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AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 



A CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON, THE 
FIRST GOVERNOR OF KANSAS. 



?Y 



PEOF. FEANK W. BLACKMAE, 

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 



(Prom the Annual Keport of the American Historical Association for 1894, pages 213-226.) 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1896. 






FEB 3 1903 
D.ofD, 



> 



XII. -A CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON, THE 
FIRST GOVERNOR OF KANSAS. 



By Prof. Frank W. Blackmar, of the University of Kansas. 



Next to the settlemeut of the first colonies on the Atlantic 
Slope, there is no more interesting illustration of the actual 
development of government and law and the building of States 
than that of the settlement and development of a Western State 
by Eastern immigrants. Coming from all the different States 
of the Union and from Europe, and entering suddenly an unim- 
proved country with no means of wealth except the fertile soil 
and other bounties of nature, they form themselves into organi- 
zations, they develop government, make law, and establish sys- 
tem and order of association. More peculiar than perhaps 
that of any of the older States of the West, on account of the 
rapidity of settlement and the special struggle which went on 
dividing the settlers into different groups on each side of the 
Free-State policy, was the founding and building of Kansas. It 
sometimes happens in the history of nations that a single law 
throws burdens upon a community and makes the settlement 
of questions impossible without bloodshed and strife. Such 
was the condition following the agreement known as the reli- 
gious peace of Augsburg, of 1555, when the struggle of the 
great powers over religious doctrines was relegated to local 
authorities to settle as best they might. It ended in throwing 
a greater part of Germany at the mercy of marauding bands 
and tramping armies and crushing out much of the best life 
of the peoijle. It was so in Kansas when the Missouri Com- 
l>romise was repealed and there was submitted therefor the 
Kansas and Nebraska bill, which made Kansas a Territory and 
allowed the settlement of a great national issue by the citizens 
of the local territory. Bloodshed, war, and strife were inevi- 

snha 
213 



214 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

by the attitude of both North and South, as each section strove 
to send into this Territory the largest number of opposing fac- 
tions on both sides of this great question.^ 

In this great struggle, wliile the rank and file of the people, 
as is usual, fought the battles and endured the hardships 
which made Kansas a free State, there were leaders in the 
Free-State cause. Among others were the fanatic agitator 
and fighter, Brown, the fiery, erratic, and eloquent Lane, and 
the wise, conservative, and courageous Robinson.^ 

As the influence of the last named was perhaps greater in 
the founding and building of the State of Kansas than that 
of any other single individual of those who dwelt within its 
borders, he is made the central figure in the bit of history 
presented in this paper. 

Robinson was well calculated for leadership of the people. 
He was of sturdy New England stock, a descendant of John 
Robinson, of Plymouth Company fame. He appeared in Kan- 
sas in June, 1854, as general agent of the Emigrant Aid Soci- 
ety of New England, whose purpose was to furnish Free State 
settlers for the Territory of Kansas, to settle, to build homes, 
to establish freedom by living and voting, and, if necessary, 
by fighting. There were strong backers to this movement, 
among whom were Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, and the in- 
trepid Eli Thayer. 

'See annual report of American Historical Association: '-'Annals of an 
historic town," by F. W. Blackinar. 

■2 Governor Charles Robinson was born at Hardwick, Mass., July 21, 1818. 
His father was a farmer; in politics a strong Abolitionist. The sou was 
educated in the schools of Hardwick and at Amherst College. After 
taking a thorough medical course, he practiced his chosen profession at 
Belchertown and Fitchburg. At Springtield, Mass., he opened a hospital 
in connection with Dr. J. G. Holland. His health failing, he went to Cali- 
fornia in 18'19, where he remained two years, returning in 1851. On the 
journey out he acted as physician to a Boston company; on his return he 
was shipwrecked on the coast of Mexico. While in California he became 
identihed with the settlers and miners in their struggle against the "land 
grabbers," iu which he took the part of the settlers. The settlers were 
victorious. Although Dr. Robinson was wounded and imprisoned, he 
was acfjuitted of all charges preferred and set at liberty, subsequently 
taking his seat in the California legislature, to which he was chosen 
while he was a prisoner. After returning to Massachusetts he was editor 
of the Fitchburg News for two years. Soon after he became agent of the 
New England Emigrant Aid Society, and entered Kansas in June, 1854. 
From that time on he was identified with the Free-State movement in Kan- 
sas. He died at his home near Lawrence, Kans., August 19, 1894. 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON BLACKMAR. 215 

Robinson's field was in Kansas, with occasional visits to the 
center of sup])lies for instructions. He had been through 
Kansas before, in 1849, along with a party of Bostonians on 
their way to California to seek gold ; hence he knew something 
of the countr3^ His thorough education in Massachusetts and 
his marked ability as a practicing physician prepared him for 
dealing with men; his experiences on his California trip and 
while in that State prepared him for leadership. On his way 
from St. Louis to Kansas he had fallen in with a class of emi- 
grants from the South who were to be his enemies, and he thus 
found out something about the people with whom he was to 
come in contact in the future. 

As a leader Robinson was always conservative. It is true 
he was stubborn, courageous to a fault ; but not blindly partisan 
in anything. He was too intelligent and fair minded to follow 
a cause unless he was convinced that it was right. It was his 
conscientious adherence to a line of right conduct, according 
to the dictates of his conscience, which led his friends to accuse 
him of vacillation ; but he was following a well-marked path 
of rectitude according to his own judgment. Parties and con- 
ditions might change from side to side; he would antagonize all 
or any of them if they came in his way. He was in Kansas to 
make Kansas a free State, and to this greater ideal he was 
ready at any time to subordinate or sacrifice smaller plans. 
Other men were better subjects for the orator, but not for the 
historian. His head was always clear, his judgment sure, his 
advice sound; and in the troubled condition of Kansas at this 
period these were essential qualities. 

Strong i)artisan bias struck deep into the institutions and 
soil of Kansas. Much of the history of the State has been 
written from a basis of hero worship. Even to-day there are 
many conflicting statements concerning its early history, just 
as there were conflicting x^arties in the guerrilla warfare of 
those days. How could it have been otherwise, with the hust- 
ling of the thousands from the different parts of the country ; 
with the incondng of Abolitionists, Free-State and Proslavery 
men, Whigs, Free-Soilers, National Democrats and local Dem- 
ocrats, and voting squatters'? Every shade of political opin- 
ion was represented here. How could it have been otherwise, 
with eight governors appointed by the National Government 
within six years and the one Free State governor alongside, and 
within the same time the numerous conventions, the four State 



216 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

constitutions, and the several different legislatures that were 
convened from time to time to exercise the will of the different 
factions? Combine with these discordant elements numerous 
aspirants for office, who were ready to use every condition and 
all men to satisfy their ambition, and you have a history which 
it will be difficult to trace correctly until time has worn away 
personal and party prejudice. 

The pliases of the Kansas struggle are many. At first there 
was a struggle for land — for position and standing room. This 
led to many personal ant) individual struggles, much injustice, 
and crime. Second, there was a struggle of towns for position 
and for government. There was a struggle of the Free- State 
and Proslavery marauding bands, sometimes called armies, 
which engaged in skirmishes which were sometimes called 
battles. There was the struggle of the Territorial government, 
with its numerous governors backed by the United States, 
against lawless enemies. Finally, there was the battle of the 
constitutional conventions and legislatures. This last phase 
represents the most important by far of the great events of 
early history, and it is in this that Robinson appears more 
prominent. 

He had not failed to take an important part in the struggle 
for a town site by the settlers of Lawrence. Here we find him 
defending the interests of the settlers of the Bostonian party. 
His position as agent of the Emigrant Aid Society made him 
the natural defender and leader of the Free-State party, and as 
soon as it became necessary for organization we find him a 
leader against the opposition. Robinson was greatly impressed 
with the idea of making Kansas a free State. He was an 
organizer, a diplomat, a man who could measure men and 
parties. He knew when to keep still, when to speak, and how 
to give clear expression to his ideas. 

The various followers and supporters of Brown, Lane, and 
Robinson have vied with each other in magnifying the deeds 
and character of their respective hero. Many of the unset- 
tled points of Kansas history depend for their final verdict on 
the attitude of these three men, who have each in turn been 
called the savior of Kansas and the leader of the Free-State 
cause. Each has his place in the struggle, but, as Robinson 
well admits, it was the peopje who saved Kansas and not 
the leaders. 

Lane came to Kansas as a politician, and he watched his 
opportunity well. His great object was to attain the United 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON BLACKMAR. 217 

States Senate. This was his purpose in coming. For this he 
forced his filibustering measures upon the people; he posed 
for their votes and their applause. He was an orator of no 
mean pretensions. By reducing his voice and manner to a 
sepulchral intensity he could magnify the most trivial thing 
to appear like the impending doom of hell over his audience; 
he swayed his hearers at his will. A young writer of his day, 
afterwards Senator John J. lugalls, described him as follows: 

His voice is a series of transitions from the broken scream of the maniac 
to the hoarse, rasping gutturals of a Dutch butcher in the last gasp of 
inebriation. The construction of his sentences is loose and disjointed; 
his diction is a pudding of slang, profanity, and solecism; and yet the 
electric shock of his extraordinary eloquence thrills like the blast of a 
trumpet; the magnetism of his manner, the fire of his glance, the studied 
earnestness of his utterances finds sudden response in the will of his 
audience, and he sways them like a field of reeds shaken by the wind. 

Lane always had a crowd when he was announced to speak; 
everybody came, whether friends or foes, and they listened well 
to his illogical harangues. Says an old resident of Kansas : 

He talked like none of the rest. None of the others had that husky, 
rasping, blood-curdling whisper, or that menacing forefinger, or could 
shriek " Great God " on the same day with him.' 

Judge Kingman called him a great natural orator. He said : 

By a great natural orator I mean a man who can stand up before 500 
men, 250 of whom are ready to hang him to the next tree, and at the end 
of a half hour have them all cheering for him.^ 

It is said that James H. Lane did actually verify this 
condition. 

Lane was of some help to the Free-State cause even in his 
erratic way. He stirred the enthusiasm of men ; he kept the 
subject ever before them ; he swayed them at his will. In 
sijeech, at least, he was a great fighter, although he was fre- 
quently absent from the head of the column on the day of bat- 
tle. He started out with the attempt to organize the Demo- 
cratic party in Kansas. This party could not rally enough 
volunteers to make an organization. Logically, Lane took up 
the Free-State cause and went with the majority, but not until 
prominent Free-State men had promised to make him United 
States Senator when the party was victorious. His views of 
methods of procedure did not agree witb those of Eobinson, 
and these two men finally became lifelong enemies. At last 



Noble Prentis, in Kansas City Star. ^ n,ifl. 



218 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

Laue readied the United States Senate. When the war broke 
ont he returned to Kansas and became a sort of brigadier- 
general and filibustered over Kansas and the surrounding 
States. When about to take command of a larger army and 
extend his filibustering, " Major-Generar' Lane came in con- 
tact with General Hunter, and after the interview the former 
announced that it was his " sad and simple duty" to return to 
the United States Senate. In 1865 he was again elected to the 
Senate. But from that time on his command of popular 
applause in Kansas weakened. Finally, soured, discontented, 
and unbalanced, he took his own life, a sad but not a surpris- 
ing ending of such an eventful career. 

John Brown had no method in his madness. Worshiped 
as the hero of Harpers Ferry, and at one time supported by 
many of the members of the Free-State cause, his star wanes 
and fades as the strong light of history is turned upon it. 
When Brown came to Kansas with his radical measures he 
found a few radical men who supported and upheld him. By 
his actions these were bound to the Free-State cause; beyond 
that his influence was rather harmful to the cause of liberty 
than otherwise. His Kansas record will not bear the enlight- 
ened touch of history, llis whole life accomplished but one 
great thing; it revealed to the hearts and minds of the peo- 
ple their own thoughts, and in this way he became a power in 
the laud. As a mythical hero he aroused enthusiasm for the 
cause which put down the rebellion and eradicated slavery. 
But no rational historian to-day can sanction the course he 
pursued in Kansas. 

Brown and Lane both talked of a "higher law" which 
placed them above the recognition of Federal authority. He 
was disgusted at the Free-State party because it was not thor- 
oughly Abolition in nature. He had no use for conventions, 
legislatures, and laws. These were too formal. He believed 
not in talk ; he believed in action. He arose to speak but once, 
and then by his vehement antislavery doctrine drove the Free- 
State Democrats into the Proslavery party. But he became a 
terror to the foes of the Free State party as well as a menace to 
the hitter's cause. "He and his sons and followers came 
forth at the notes of the conflict as the eagles to the slaughter, 
and then went away." ^ 

1 Noble Prentis. 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON BLACKMAR. 219 

On the contrary, the actual services of Eobinson are the 
more apparent to the people and to the historian as years dis- 
close the real situation of the case. Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, 
of Boston, who watched every movement in Kansas from 
its foundation, in speaking before the Massachusetts Histor- 
ical Society in May, 1884 paid this tribute to the character 
of Charles Robinson : 

He was cool, judicious, and entirely devoid of fear, and in every respect 
TTortby of the confidence reposed in him by the settlers and the society. 
He was obliged to submit to great hardships and injustice, chiefly through 
the imbecility of the United States Government's agents. He was impris- 
oned, his house was burned, and his life was often threatened. Yet he 
never bore arms or omitted to do whatever he thought to be his duty. 
He sternly held the people to loyalty to the Government against the 
arguments and example of the "higher-law" men, who Avere always 
armed, who were not real settlers, and who were combined in bringing 
about the border war, which they hoped would extend to the older States. 
The policy of the New England Society carried out by Robinson and those 
who acted with him in Kansas was finally successful and triumphant.' 

While Eobinson always took pains not to antagonize or 
defy the Federal authority — the only Government recognized 
by the Free-State men in Kansas — he was also a strong sup- 
porter, if not originator, of the position against the "bogus" 
Territorial legislature and the " bogus " laws enacted by it in 
1855. Armed bands from Missouri took charge of the elec- 
tion precincts, overawed some of the judges, appointed others, 
and elected the entire Proslavery ticket. A new election was 
ordered in several districts in which fraud was apparent, which 
resulted in the election of several Free-State men. When the 
legislature assembled it unseated the Free-State men, who 
were truly elected, and replaced them with Proslavery men, 
and then proceeded to enact the so called " bogus laws " of the 
early history of Kansas. These laws were peculiarly obnox- 
ious to the Free-State men. They were worse; they were infa- 
mous. They made it a crime punishable by death to " entice, 
decoy, or carry away out of this Territory any slave belong- 
ing to another"^ with the intent to procure his freedom or 
deprive the owner of his services. They went further and pre- 
scribed the same punishment to those who should assist in 
l)rocuring the freedom of a slave. It was further provided 
that if any one should " print, write, publish, or circulate any 



iThe Kausas Crusade, by Eli Thayer, p. 191. 
2 Laws of the Territory, 1855, chapter 151. 



220 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

book, magazine, handbill, or circular containing any state- 
ments, arguments, opinions, or sentiments calculated to pro- 
duce disorder and rebellious disaffection among tlie slaves 
of the Territory, or to induce such slaves to escape from the 
service of their masters, or to resist their authority, shall be 
guilty of felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment at 
hard labor for a term not less than five years."' Persons 
bringing any books of the same nature into the Territory 
were to be subjected to the same penalty. If any person 
maintained by speech, writing, or assertion that persons nad 
not the right to hold slaves in the Territory he was to be sub- 
jected to imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less 
than two years. 

While the organic act of the Territory had left the slavery 
question open to the people, a fraudulently elected legislature 
had thus attempted to give final settlement to it. The Free- 
State men felt warranted in resenting any such attempt to 
usurp the authority and rights of the people, and refused to 
acknowledge the legislature or its laws. Conventions were 
called at Lawrence and elsewhere for the expression of tlie 
will of the people, and E,obinson, with other leaders, advised 
a complete ignoring of the laws of the legislature. 

At a convention of the people held August 14, 1855, it was 
resolved, among other things — 

That we consider the iittempt to establish a Territorial form of govern- 
meDt in this Territory an utter failure; and that the people of this Terri- 
tory should, at some convenient i»eriod, assemble at their several places of 
holding elections in the various districts of the Territory, and elect dele- 
gates to a convention to Ibrm a State constitution for the State of Kansas, 
with a view to an immediate State organization, and application, at the 
next session of Congress, for admission into the Union as one of the States 
of the American confederacy.* 

It was resolved to hold another convention at Topeka on 
September 19 to perfect the plan for Statehood. In the mean- 
time a general convention was held at Big Springs, at which it 
was resolved — 

That we owe no allegiance or obedience to the tyrannical enactments of 
this spurious legislature; that their laws have no validity or binding 
force upon the people of Kansas, and that every freeman among us is at 
full liberty, consistently with all his obligations as a citizen and as a man, 
to defy and resist them if he chooses to do so.-' 



1 Laws of the Territory, 1855, chapter 151. 
-The Kansas Conflict, p. 170. 
^Ibid, p. 171. 



LIFE OF CHARiLeS ROBINSON BLACKMAR. 221 

The resolutions proceeded to explain tbe reasons and further 
define the position of the Free-State men. 

Another delegate convention, held September 19 of the 
same year at Topeka, provided for an election of members to 
the convention to form a State constitution and to apply for 
admission to the Union. This convention met at Topeka 
October 23 and continued in session until November 11. 
Here the Topeka constitution was framed, subsequently put 
to a vote of the Free-State men and unanimously adopted, and 
the petition for admission into the Union laid before Congress. 
This petition passed the House of Eepresentatives, but failed 
to pass the Senate. But the Free-State men proceeded never- 
theless to elect Charles Eobinson governor, together with other 
State officers, and provided for the election of a legislature. 
For two years this legislature was kept together, and the con- 
stitution formed a rallying point for the Free-State men. The 
Free-State men refused during this period to vote with the Pro- 
slavery men for the election of Territorial officers until October 
5, 1857, when the former were again persuaded to take a i^art 
in the election and carried it with a majority. 

In the meantime, the Proslavery people observing the failure 
of the Topeka constitution, the Territorial legislature enacted 
a law providing for a constitutional convention which was to 
meet September 7, 1857, and frame a constitution. This con- 
vention met according to law and framed the Lecomptou con- 
stitution, which we it before the people December 21, 1857. At 
first the Free- State men intended to go to the polls and vote on 
the constitution and overwhelm its promoters with a large 
majority, but the tickets were so arranged that '' the constitu- 
tion with slavery " or " the constitution without slavery*' meant 
the constitution in either case. Believing this to be unfair, tbe 
Free- State men refused to vote. Then followed an election of 
State officers and of the legislature under the Lecomptou con- 
stitution. The Lecomptou (constitution went before Congress, 
but, fraud being shown in its formation and election, it was 
again referred to the people January 4, 1858, when it was lost 
by a large majority vote. 

The result of this election gave 6,266 votes for the "consti- 
tution with slavery" and 569 votes for the "constitution with- 
out slavery." It was estimated that a large number of these 
votes was fraudulent. The Free-State men petitioned Governor 
Stanton to assemble the legislature to make provision for sub- 



222 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

mittiug- the constitution unconditionally to a vote of the peo- 
ple. This being granted, the legislature met and submitted 
the constitution to the people. The result was, for the con- 
stitution with slavery, 138 votes; for the constitution without 
slavery, 23; and the vote against the constitution was 10,220. 
Having no faith in the Democratic Government at Washington, 
the Free-State men elected State officers and a legislature under 
the Lecomptou constitution in order to change it if Congress 
should recognize it as the law of the land. There was no 
object now in pressing the Lecompton constitution upon the 
people of Kansas, consequently the "English bill" provided 
for a final (third) vote on this i^eculiar enactment, which 
resulted in 1,788 for and 11,300 against, which sileuced all 
clamor for it. 

While action was pending on the Lecompton constitution a 
bill passed the Territorial legislature which provided for the 
calling of another constitutional convention, but as the gov- 
ernor thought Kansas already had constitutions enough he 
failed to sign the bill. Subsequently the advocates of the 
measure met in convention and framed a new constitution and 
established the seat of government at Minneola in connection 
with a land speculation. Finally the seat of government was 
removed to Leavenworth, and the unimportant document was 
known as the Leavenworth constitution. It was on a par with 
the Topeka constitution, so far as legality was concerned, but 
lacked the support of the latter. This constitution held that 
Kansas should be free to both whites and blacks. In contem- 
plating the process of constitution making in Kansas one is 
impressed with the idea that the speculator, the demagogue, 
and the ofiice seeker were abroad in the land, and that the 
struggle for liberty carried on by the patriots of Kansas was 
frequently defiled by their touch. 

While this battle of the constitutions was proceeding efforts 
were made by a body of filibusters, headed by Lane, to force 
the issue to a military contest. They desired to ])revent the 
formation of the Lecompton constitution by forcibly dispersing 
the convention. They made the military board which was 
formed by the legislature the basis of an organized secret 
armed attack on all Proslavery centers. These rash move- 
ments were thwarted by Kobinson and his followers. 

It finally became necessary to abandon all previous constitu- 
tional schemes, and March 28, 1859, a vote was cast calling the 



LIFE OP CHARLES ROBINSON BLACKMAR. 223 

Wyandotte convention. A large majority voted for tlie hold- 
ing of this convention. A new constitution was formed and 
adopted by the people and application for the admission of the 
State into the Union under this constitution was made to Con- 
gress. The election of a legislature and of officers under this 
constitution made Charles Robinson governor of the Territory 
of Kansas for the second time, witli no apx)arent legal power 
to act. Kansas must abide under the Territorial government 
another two years. It was not- until January 21, 1861, that 
the bill for tlie admission of Kansas passed the Senate, and the 
same passed the House January 28 and was finally signed by 
President Buchanan. 

In all of this battle for constitutions the Free-State people, 
under the guide of Robinson, insisted on their rights to have a 
fair ballot, and sought to avoid encounters with Federal 
authority, while they persistently and firmly opposed Terri- 
torial encroachments on these rights. The counsel of Robin- 
son during this entire struggle was always relied upon by the 
l)eople. Undoubtedly he believed in the abolition of slavery, 
but he did not believe in an open attack upon the United 
States Government for the purpose of repressing it, for that 
would have been treason. He proposed only to the people 
that they follow the organic act of Congress, which permitted 
them to vote in the decision as to whether Kansas should be a 
slave or a free State. He held that it was right at all times to 
struggle for justice and a fair ballot, and when the time came 
to settle the question that way it would be final. He was 
always ready to meet his opponents at the polls when justice 
and a fair count could be obtained. The movement to repu- 
diate the Territorial government was started in his Fourth of 
July oration delivered in 1855, in which he reviews very care- 
fully the position of slavery throughout the United States and 
in Kansas, and reviews the result of the step. The triumph of 
the Proslavery party had been complete; the Free-State men 
were circumvented. Says Robinson: 

What are wef Subjects, slaves of Missouri. We come to the celebra- 
tion of this anniversary with our chains clanking about our limbs; we 
lift to heaven our manacled arms for supplication. Proscribed, outlawed, 
denounced, wo can not so much as speak the name of liberty except with 
prison walls and halters looking us in the face. We must not only look 
upon black slavery in our midst against our wishes, but we must become 
slaves ourselves. 



224 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

Ee viewing' the situation iu Kansas, lie finally said: 

If thepeoj)le of Mis ouri make it uecessary by their unlawful course for 
us to establish freedom iu that State, in order to enjoy the liberty of 
governing ourselves in Kansas, then let that be the issue. If Kansas and 
the whole North must be enslaved or Missouri become free, then let her 
be made free; aye, and if to be free ourselves slavery must be abolished 
iu the whole country, then let us accept that issue. * * * Fellow- 
citizens, in c nclusiou, it is or us to choose for ourselves, and for those 
who shall come after us, what institutions shall bless or cur-^e our beau'i- 
fu Kansas. Shall we have freedom for all her people and seek prosperity, 
or slavery for a part with lilight and mildew inseparable rom it? Cho se 
ye this day which you will serve, slavery or freedom, and then be true to 
y ur choice. If slav ry be best for Kansas, then choose it; if liberty, 
then ( hoose that. Let every man stand in this place and acquit himself 
like a man who kuows his rights, ai d knowiug dares to mainta n them. 
Let us repudiate all laws en ic ed by foreign legislative bodies or dictated 
by Judge Lynch over the way. Tyrant -s are tyrants and tyranny is 
tyranny, whether iu the garb of law or in opposition to it. ' 

Such were the sentiments proclaimed by the leader of the 
Free-State party on the first Fourth of July celebration by the 
people of the Territory of Kansas. They met a ready response 
in the hearts of the patriots of Kansas. The supi)ort of senti- 
ments of this nature meant courage in strife, but the leader 
and his followers never flinched iu defense of the platform. 

In May, 1857, Governor Robinson, accompanied by his wife, 
started on a journey to Washington in the interests of the 
Free-State cause in Kansas. It was immediately after the 
attack on Lawrence, during which Governor Robinson was in 
command of all the forces for defense. The grand jury at 
Lecomptou indicted several parties, among whom w^as Robin- 
son. This was a well-laid plan to dispose of the leaders of 
the Free-State party. Befoie Robinson was indicted he was 
arrested and taken from the boat at Lexington, Mo. He was 
brought to Leavenworth and then to Lecomptou, where, with 
others, he was confined on the open ijrairie in a camp of the 
United States soldiers. He remained a prisoner for about 
four mouths. But during this time he found opportunity to 
direct the Free- State movement in the Territory. Governor 
Robinson was arrested under two indictments, one on account 
of the defense of Lawrence, and the other on account of acting 
as governor and issuing proclamations instructing the Topeka 
legislature. While in prison he refused to allow parties ou 
the outside to rescue him, as he said this would bring on an 

1 Kansas Daily Tribune, July 14, 1855. 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON BLACKMAR. 225 

open collision with the Federal authorities and ruin the Free- 
State cause. After the arrival of Governor Geary, Eobinson 
witl) other prisoners were released on bail, September 10, 1857. 
The cases were never called. 

In his messages of March, 1850, and June, 1857, Governor 
Robinson used mild language and calm argument to show that 
the people had a right to meet and form a State constitution, 
make a State organization, elect ofticers, and apply for admis- 
sion into the Union. He gives strong expression of his loyalty 
to the United States Government. He said: 

The rights of a free people ^ve love, the Union we regard, the integrity 
of the Government we will maintain. The devotion of the jjeople of 
Kansas to the Union is evinced hy the stern reality of their suffering and 
endurance. lu wisdom and devotion the people of Kansas will struggle 
to preserve the Union. Should they ever he permitted to enjoy the hap- 
piness of sisterhood, they will do so by endeavoring to make the Union 
worth preserving, without which it will inevitably crumble into pieces.' 

During the 'struggle it was finally deemed j^roper for the 
Free- State people to vote for ofticers on the 4th of January, 
1858. Up to this date they had held themselves aloof from 
the elections for a period of several years. Governor Robin- 
son favored voting in this election with a hope of obtaining a 
majority in the Territorial legislature. He expressed himself 
as much in favor of the Topeka constitution, as in the main it 
held to the Free-State idea, and that to enter this election was 
not backing down. He said: 

Let our platform be the people against usurpation ; we can vindicate 
our sovereignty at the ballot box. It is said that the Administration is 
afraid of blood. It is nonsense; they only seek an excuse to hang a few 
of us. 

Following the course marked out by Robinson and other 
advisers, the Free-State men obtained an overwhelming major- 
ity. When General Geary became governor of Kansas, Gov- 
ernor Robinson resigned his place to go to New England in 
the hope of bringing influence to bear upon the United States 
Administration so as to complete a peaceful arrangement of the 
ditticulties in the Territory, For this he was abused for desert- 
ing his party and his position. i!^evertheless, he acted in good 
fiiith, and when Geary's plan failed he withdrew his resigna- 
tion, much to the pleasure of the legislature and of the people. 
When the Senate investigating committee, sent out for the 

1 From original copy printed lu the oiiice of the Quindaro Chindowan. 
H. Mis. 91 15 



226 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. 

purpose of inquiring into the condition of the government in 
Kansas, placed Governor Eobinson on the stand, he told sim- 
ply the truth as he viewed it. In this investigation he criti- 
cised the violent wing of the Free State movement in Kansas 
headed by Brown and Lane. For this he suffered much abuse 
and calumny from the oi^posite party, but he lived to survive 
it all, and came off triumphant. He was also accused of a 
bond swindle, out of the trouble of which he came without a 
smirch. 

While governor of Kansas articles of impeachment were 
brought against him by his archenemies, but these, too, failed. 
Looking back over his life through the light of unjirejudiced 
history, we find that he was ever consistent with his own doc- 
trine and his own plans; he swerved never to the right or 
the left in making Kansas a great free State. He was loyal to 
the people, to Kansas, and to the United States Government. 
Unwarranted attacks by his enemies, their heated abuse and 
slander uiiou him, make his own course appear to-day more 
rational and righteous because of disapproval by such per- 
sons. When he became governor of the State of Kansas, 
in his first message to the legislature he expressed the senti- 
ment that Kansas would do its full duty in the support of the 
National Government. He said : 

While it is the duty of each loyal State to see that equal and exact 
justice is doue to the citizens of every other State, it is equally its duty 
to sustain the Chief Executive of the nation in defending the Government 
from foes, whether from within or from without — and Kansas, though last 
and least of the States of the Union, will ever be ready to answer the call 
of her country. 

And so it proved, for the State furnished more soldiers, in 
proportion to the inhabitants, in putting down the rebellion 
than any other State of the Union. 



016 089 336 9 




